


The Disastrous Adventures of David, Crutchie, and Friends

by whathashappenedhere



Series: Godsies AU [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Elemental AU, Gen, also the use of the word pondweed, david sort of loses his limbs a bit so warning for that, he also is pretty close to having a panic attack too, subtle javid if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 12:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10278446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whathashappenedhere/pseuds/whathashappenedhere
Summary: This is based on ask-the-godsies elemental au over on tumblr, so you can check that out for more information on the general universe.Basically, David meets the rest of the gang. He regrets many things. Crutchie just wants to help David make friends. Les wants to meet his idol.





	

**Author's Note:**

> David tends to lose stability of his form when he's upset, and he loses his arms and hands a few times, so if that bothers you I would recommend not reading this.

“Come on, David! Sarah said she wanted us to tell her  _ all _ about New York! She’s heard so much about it from the people on the ships, but she wants to know more! And so do I!” David sighed, the currents that formed his hair swishing and foaming with his agitation. He didn’t like to be far away from his rivers, even if the Hudson and East Rivers - at least, that’s what the humans called them - were pretty close. There was even a pond nearby for Les, down in the only area of the city with substantial greenery.

David slowly walked along behind Les, feet making a quiet  _ splat _ every time they hit the road beneath them. Les, who was slightly more muddy in composition, made squishing noises as he jumped up and down, trying to see over the crowds of humans. Speaking of humans, David see them staring at the pair with wide eyes. David supposed it wasn’t every day you saw two people made up almost entirely of water. He could feel the currents that coursed through him starting to speed up as he wrung his hands, eyes locked on the ground.

“Excuse me, mister, but are you made out of water?” A little girl, maybe Les’ size, had slipped away from her mother and ran up to David. David’s eyes widened and his hands started to drip before he regained his bearings.

“Oh, uh. Yes, I am.” The girl nodded, apparently satisfied, and flounced back to her embarrassed mother.

“I apologize for Ethel, I hadn’t realized she had disappeared,” the girl’s mother apologized with an oddly desperate air. David flailed a bit, looking around for Les, but only seeing the wide eyes of the crowd.

“No, no, it’s fine.”

“I haven’t gotten around to telling her about the water gods yet, she didn’t recognize you.” The woman continued. David looked down and saw his hands starting to lose shape, before tuning back into the woman’s apology.

“It’s really fine, ma’am, now if you don’t mind, I really need to find my brother before he gets lost.” With that hurried remark, David walked briskly through the crowd, which parted around him. As much as David hated the attention, he was at least grateful that they weren’t trying to touch him. With the way he was feeling right now, their fingers would probably push past the normal pseudo-barrier that was his human-like form, and that was both uncomfortable and disconcerting. “Les? Les, where are you?” David called out, eyes darting around to spot any sign of the algae green of his brother’s hair, or the wet, muddy footprints Les was prone to leaving behind when he walked on land.

“David! I’m over here!” With a wave of relief - David regretted the day Sarah learned about puns, she was horrible and had infected him with her ocean jokes - David hurried over to the mop of bright green hair.

“Les, you can’t just run off-” David cut himself off, nearly melting into a puddle as he realized someone else was by his brother. “Sorry Crutchie, I didn’t see you-” The green skinned boy laughed, a trio of holly flowers blooming in the deity’s curly dark green hair.

“Nah, it’s fine Davey. ‘S good to see you again!” David made a face at the nickname, but Crutchie carried on with a wide grin. “I haven’t seen you two in a good fifty years or so. Is Sarah here?” Les shook his head hard enough to splatter pondweed on a nearby wall.

“Nah, she sent us to go tell her ‘bout the city an’ stuff.” Les chirped. “She didn’ want ta try an’ go too far from the ocean.” Crutchie grinned and ruffled Les’ watery hair, prompting the pondweed still in it to practically multiply.

“Well tell her I said hello.”

“What are you doing in New York, Crutchie?” David asked curiously.

“Oh, Jack and I wanted to drop by and visit Spot.”

“Spot?” questioned David, not recognizing the name from Crutchie's stories about the other deities.

“Jack’s  _ here _ ?!” Les exclaimed, looking around in excitement. “Can we meet him? Can we?” A gardenia bloomed on Crutchie’s cheek as he laughed.

“We’d have to see what your brother says.” Crutchie whispered to Les conspiratorially. Les nodded and turned to David with wide, expectant eyes.

“Please David? Can we go meet Jack?” Under the weight of his brother’s pleading eyes, David felt his resolve waver.

“Maybe. But we have to see where they're meeting, Les. You know the rules.” Les rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah. Don't go far from a source of water, don't go anywhere without you, and stay away from deserts.” He turned to Crutchie. “So where are you guys meetin’?”

“A little ways into Brooklyn.” Seeing the worried look on David’s face, he hurriedly assured the other deity. “It's not too far from the water, and they've got plumbing and stuff now, so they have water nearby.” David bit his lip, mulling it over.

“Please, David?” David sighed.

“Fine.” Les cheered. Crutchie laughed and started walking, home grown crutch thudding against the street. Les ran ahead of the pair, laughing. When he was out of earshot, David turned to face Crutchie. “How’s your leg doing? It looks worse than last time.”

“It’s… not doing so great.” Crutchie admitted, fiddling with a patch of hyacinths on his crutch. “It's been almost a hundred and forty years, Davey, I don't think it’s going to get better.” As Crutchie spoke, the flowers peppered on his body began to wilt. A spike of panic shot through David as he hurriedly backtracked.

“Uh, so you've mentioned Jack before, but who’s Spot?” Crutchie perked up.

“Spot’s a good friend. He's a little hot headed, but he's a real softie at heart. He’ll probably be fine as long as you don't call him cute. Or short.” David frowned.

“Couldn't he just make himself taller if that bothered him so much?” Crutchie grinned.

“Maybe, but he'd cause too much property damage. If he gets too large he gets unstable.”

“Oh.” David commented awkwardly. How was he supposed to respond to that? The two walked in silence for a bit, keeping an eye on the exuberant Les. “How have you been lately?” Crutchie shot a crooked grin at David.

“Pretty good, actually. Jack helped me make a new kind of flower. They’re real popular up in the Netherlands, now. How are you? I haven’t seen you much since-” David flinched, one of his hands turning into a puddle and splattering onto the ground. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine Crutchie.” David muttered, reforming his hand. “I’ve been… okay. Who else are we meeting, aside from the mysterious Spot and Jack, whose praises you’ve been singing about for the past few millennia?” Crutchie grinned sheepishly, running a finger over one of the vines wrapped around his fingers.

“I want to say Katherine’s gonna be there, probably Blink and Mush too- sorry,” Crutchie broke off with a giggle at David’s confused expression. “Creativity, Night, and Day. Romeo might show up - do you remember Romeo? He’s love.” At David’s nod, Crutchie continued. “Race, or Smoke, is probably already there, he likes to pester Spot. Just warning you, he likes to startle people.” David must have made a face, because Crutchie laughed and a few dozen jasmine blooms sprouted in a spiral along his arm. “Don’t worry, he’s harmless.”

“I- are you sure this is a good idea, Crutchie?” David asked as they walked along the Brooklyn bridge, trying and failing to ignore the stares of the nearby humans. “Maybe Les and I should just head back, the East River’s right here-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Davey.” Crutchie cut him off, which was rather un-Crutchie like, but David wasn’t going to interrupt Crutchie, who was basically David’s only friend. “It will be fine. You’ve seen some of them before, and Les would be heartbroken if you made him go home.” With a grimace, David conceded that point to Crutchie, glancing ahead to where his younger sibling was cheerfully skipping along the bridge. “Plus, if you psych yourself out, I will carry you there in a bucket.” David made an affronted noise. Crutchie grinned at him, though David personally thought it was as close to a smirk as Crutchie could get. Nevertheless, David wasn’t going to argue with Crutchie. It just wasn’t worth it if you got Life himself mad.

“David, I can see Brooklyn! C’mon!” The corners of David’s mouth quirked up and he walked a little faster, trying to keep Les in sight. Next to him, Crutchie chuckled and continued at the same pace, watching the pair fondly. They were going to cause so much chaos when they showed up at the meeting.

When they finally arrived in Brooklyn, David could feel himself getting antsy as the buildings cut off his view of the river. Why did he let Crutchie talk him into this? Then Les grabbed his hand and started to pull him along, chattering about Jack and all the stories Crutchie had told him. Crutchie’s amused face had a scattering of purple aster flowers around his hairline, and David wished his feelings made him look as elegant as the other deity. Instead he either ended up forming rapids or just turned into a puddle, which was embarrassing in itself. Crutchie had beautiful flowers that blossomed all along his body, and could actually wear human clothes without making them soggy, something Sarah in particular had always envied.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout, Davey?” Crutchie asked, head tilted with innocence. A white camellia bloomed along his collarbone, poking past the collar of the human shirt the deity was wearing. David shrugged awkwardly, unable to really put his feelings of unease into words, but well aware his hair probably looked like white water rapids with the amount of anxiety flowing through him.

“Nothing much.” Crutchie raised an eyebrow, well aware that David, who was far more intellectually inclined than Crutchie or his siblings, always had something on his mind, but was willing to let it slide this time. Slightly embarrassed, David quickly changed topics. “So, where’s this meeting place?” Crutchie’s face lit up, and he pointed down a street that looked basically identical to every other street they had been on, right down to the gaping humans. Maybe they actually did look different, but to David? All the same.

“We head down this road, and down a few blocks. Spot’s place is as close to the docks as the others could make him keep it, for ease of access and all that.” David nodded along as Crutchie chattered about the location and how to get there, relieved that at least he had his good (only) friend with him.

Finally, they arrived at a place that looked half under construction, with one wall only skeletal structure of wood and a surprisingly completed looking roof. “Spot burned down one of the walls again,” Crutchie explained. “It happens more often than you think.” Alarmed, David looked between the building, spotting areas scorched black, and Crutchie with growing incredulity. “Oh calm down Davey, it’s fine.” Crutchie patted David’s arm, ignoring the way his hand sank halfway into the other boy’s watery shoulder.

Crutchie hobbled over to the doorway-without-a-door and walked right in, leaving David lingering outside, hand locked around Les’ arm. Les looked like he was going to burst from excitement - something which had happened before, and was not something David really wanted to repeat - and was bouncing up and down with a wide grin on his face. “Calm down, Les.” Davey whispered. Les rolled his eyes, his brother’s words not even denting his cheerful exuberance.

“How can I calm down? Jack is so cool, David! There was this time-” Les was cut off by a cheerful, “Hey, it’s Crutchie!” from inside the building.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too, guys.” They heard Crutchie say, his smile evident in his voice. “I brought some friends this time.”

“Who’d you bring, Crutchie?” A female voice David could vaguely remember from somewhere, dimly coming up with the name Katherine. Creativity, then.

“Hey guys, come on in!” Crutchie called out. Ignoring the familiar pull of the currents as they sped up, David slipped inside the building, eyes darting around. A girl with soft blue skin and hair in stripes of pastel colors was perched primly on a chair next to a boy with a riot of bright colors splattered throughout his skin, his clothes an oddly dull grey next to his colorful skin. A pair of shorter deities were cuddled up together on a pile of boxes, one with dark blue skin and silvery hair, the other with orange skin and curly yellow hair who seemed to be glowing. Romeo - who David had never talked to, but had seen rather frequently in Paris - was chatting with a boy made of smoke, tendrils of grey drifting around him. David turned to try and find Crutchie, when he came face to face with a fire. David yelped, hands and arms dissolving and splashing loudly on the floor. The fire - which was another deity, David noted with no small amount of embarrassment - hissed and scrambled backwards until he was standing onto a small mountain of precariously piled boxes, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at David. If David were Crutchie right now, all of his flowers would be wilting. Instead, David sheepishly tried to reform his arms and hands. He managed to get them halfway solid by the time Crutchie decided to introduce them to everyone. “Guys, these are David and Les!” Silence. The smoke boy frowned, turning away from Romeo to look the siblings up and down.

“Who?” Crutchie sighed, and from behind him David could see a crop of gladioli blossom on the back of Crutchie’s neck.

“I’ve told you about them before?” The other deities shrugged. “They have a sister, Sarah? I’ve been hanging out with them for the past few millennia?” The silvery haired boy looked up from his partner.

“I don’t remember you sayin’ anything about this guy David, Crutchie.” Crutchie rolled his eyes.

“I know for a fact I mentioned him several times in the last decade alone. Davey? We literally hung out in the Amazon rainforest together for a good six months together?” The deities shook their heads, with the exception of the fire boy, who refused to even look in David’s direction. Crutchie sighed again, heavier this time. “He’s the one who melted into a puddle the first time I talked to him?” Quiet ‘Oh’s and sounds of realization filled the room. David could feel himself losing more stability as he stared at the ground.

“Nice ta meetcha, Davey!” The colorful boy called out. “I’m Jack.” Next to David, Les squealed.

“Can I go say hi David? Can I, can I?!” David sighed and let go of his brother’s arm.

“Nice to meet you, Jack. Crutchie’s told us a lot about you.” Les rushed over to Jack with one of the largest smiles David had seen on his face in decades.

“Hi I’m Les, Crutchie’s told me all about how you make dreams and escaped the refuge and you’re so cool I’m so glad I get to meet you-” The smoke boy snorted.

“Kid-” Crutchie shot a death glare at the other boy.

“Don’t you dare crush his dreams Race, or so help me-” Crutchie hissed, just loud enough for David to hear. Les, on the other sound of the room, wouldn’t be able to catch even a whisper Crutchie’s out of character words. David looked at Crutchie in surprise. It was always startling to see his cheerful friend angry. Race held his hands up in a placating gesture, looking slightly wide eyed at the vehemence Crutchie had addressed him with.

“Alright, alright. I won’t say anything.” Crutchie nodded, satisfied, and turned to face David with a blinding grin.

“So Jack introduced himself, but I can tell you who everyone else is. This here is Race-” Said deity raised a hand in acknowledgement. “You know Romeo of course.” Romeo waved cheerfully. David was convinced his hair had gotten redder and his skin had gotten pinker than the last time David had seen him. “Spot’s the one you ran into when you came in - sorry about that, by the way.”

“It’s fine, Crutchie.” David muttered, eyes darting to the human shaped flame deity still standing on the boxes, still glaring at David. Crutchie followed David’s gaze and raised an eyebrow, a sainfoin blossom sprouting just above his ear.

“Anyways, Katherine is sitting next to Jack, she’s the one with the pretty hair. Those two lovebirds up there are Blink and Mush. I think that’s everyone.” Race leaned forward as Crutchie finished.

“So, Davey, what’re you the god of?” David blinked, looking down at his translucent, watery hands and back to Race. He’d always figured it was kind of obvious, but apparently not.

“Rivers and Lakes. My sister’s the Ocean, and Les is Ponds and Marshes.” Race choked, staring at David with wide eyes.

“Wait, you’re the water gods?!” David winced slightly at the sudden increase in volume, but nodded.

“Yes…?”

“Holy shit.” Race muttered, before whipping around to face Crutchie. “You didn’t tell us they were  _ the _ water gods!” He hissed accusingly. “You just said they were water related! I thought you meant, like, water sprites, or deities that were only tied to a specific lake or something! Not the literal  _ Ocean _ , Crutchie. And every river on the planet.”

“Uh, what do you mean by  _ the _ water gods?” David broke in. “One of the humans I met today said something similar.” Race looked at him like he couldn’t believe David didn’t know.

“You’re practically myths. Nobody ever really seems to know what you look like, and reports about you are usually fakes. The last confirmed report was the Sultana disaster down in Mississippi, thirty-four years ago.” David winced, recalling the scorching heat as the boilers had exploded. He’d tried to help, but he could only do so much. “Most of us deities don’t remember having ever met you, but we’ve had a few run ins with your sister several thousand years ago, when the Greeks were still around, and she was huge. And terrifying. You’ve all got a reputation.”

“A… reputation?” David stammered, the edges of his hair - was it really hair if it was just water, like the rest of his body? part of his mind wondered - starting to foam as it turned into white water rapids.

“Calm down, Davey, Race is over exaggerating. Here, why don’t you come and talk to Katherine and Jack.” Crutchie shot a glare at Race as he led David away. As they approached, Les turned to David and beamed.

“Davey, Jack used to be a cowboy! Isn’t that so cool!” David nodded a bit, patting his brother’s head.

“Les, did you get more pondweed into your hair?” Les wrinkled his nose as David pulled out a clump of the plant. Jack chuckled and leaned against the wall. David looked up at him, surprised. Up close, it was easy to see that Jack’s hair was a dark brown, oddly simple in comparison to the watercolor-like coloring of his skin, where greens, purples, and blues swirled around.

“You two are siblings, right?”

“Oh, uh yes, we are.” Next to Jack, Katherine rolled her eyes.

“Of course they are, just look at them. Same facial structure and everything.” She squinted at David, tilting her head slightly. “Have we met before? You seem familiar.”

“No!” David spluttered. “You might have my sister, Sarah?” Katherine shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

“As amusing as it is watching you try to remember whether you’ve met or not, I was regaling Les here with my stories of the West.” Katherine rolled her eyes again as she stood and brushed the dust off of her skirt.

“Whatever, Jack. I’ll take Davey here and we can go talk about things your fluffy brain is too soft to fully process.” Katherine grabbed David’s arm, ignoring the way her fingers sank into it slightly, and led him to an empty pile of boxes.

“You wish, Kath!” Jack yelled at them as they walked away.

“Sorry about him, he’s an idiot.” Katherine apologized, brushing a strand of gradient pink-green hair away from her face. Multicolored freckles were sprinkled across her cheeks, and her hair - in all of its pastel-striped glory - hung in curls around her shoulders.

“It’s not a big deal.” David muttered, fiddling with the edge of one of the boxes. “So, uh.” he cleared his throat. “Did you ever get the chance to visit the Library of Alexandria?” Katherine’s head shot up and she grinned.

“Yes, it was one of my favorite places to visit before it burned.” Her eyes widened. “Wait, that’s where I met you!”

“What?” David forced out in confusion.

“I ran into you in the library!”

“Oh! I think I remember that…” David tried to pull up that particular memory. “You weren’t Katherine then, were you?” Katherine shook her head.

“No, that was later. I took the name after I spent some time in Greece, I want to say, sometime earlier than 400 AD, or whatever year system they use now.” David bit his lip as he dragged up the memory.

“You looked different too, more Egyptian. Less… colorful.” Katherine laughed.

“Yes, unlike Jack, I try to at least blend in some. If I have the ability to change my appearance, I might as well make use of it, you know?” David nodded.

The two chatted for awhile, and eventually Mush and Blink ambled over to join in the discussion. It wasn’t until David realized that while he had previously been about eye level with Katherine’s curled bangs, he was now eye to eye with her. In a heartbeat - well, if they had hearts, it would be a heartbeat - David was in a full blown panic, hurrying to his feet as quickly as he could, even though his legs could barely remain stable, splattering water as he walked. What little of him was stable was churning as the currents sped up, forming white water rapids that raced along his arms and face. “Les!” David called out to his younger brother as he hurried over to him and Jack. “Les it’s time to go!” Les turned around with a pout, but quickly complied when he saw how frantic his older brother had gotten.

“Aw, calm down Davey, what’s it going to hurt if you stay a little longer?” Jack drawled, reaching out to grab David’s shoulder. Instead of resting on it, Jack’s hand went completely through David’s shoulder, causing his arm to collapse into a puddle. David quickly reformed his arm, ignoring the way it seemed to drip and sag like molasses, and grabbed Les’ arm, leading him towards the doorway out of the building.

“Sorry Crutchie, but we need to leave, right now.” David explained with an underlying current of hysteria in his voice. Crutchie nodded, looking worried, even as a crop of adonis and coltsfoot flowers sprung up all along the deity’s arms.

“Alright, but you should come and visit again, okay?” David bit his lip, but nodded, before promptly hurrying out the door, Les right behind him. The pair quickly hurried to the docks, where David relaxed slightly at the sight of the river. David wrinkled his nose slightly at the garbage floating by the docks, but shoved his distaste down as he turned to Les.

David paused, turning to face Les and crouching down until they were eye to eye. “I-I’m sorry I rushed you out, I just… panicked. Sorry Les-” Les cut him off with a roll of his eyes.

“I’m not stupid, David, I know. But we can go visit them again, right?” He looked at David with wide, eager eyes. David chuckled a bit uneasily, body still leaning more towards turning-into-a-puddle than his normal stable, semi-solid form.

“We’ll see, Les. We’ll see.” David closed his eyes and exhaled before stepping off the docks and into the East River. Relief washed over him as he entered his own domain, a small  _ splash _ filtering through the waves as Les joined him, muddy form becoming more translucent as the mud and pondweed drifted through the river. “Come on. Let’s go home.”


End file.
